Mourning latest loss in dire season

Center tears knee tendon

Heat falls 11 below .500

ATLANTA — There was a sense of loss even before the game slipped away in overtime.

Unable to turn its fourth-quarter comeback into victory, the Heat not only lost 117-111 in overtime Wednesday night to the Atlanta Hawks, but may have permanently lost a part of the franchise's soul.

Center Alonzo Mourning, arguably the most significant player in the franchise's 20 seasons, was lost in the first quarter with a torn patella tendon in his right knee.

"I went over to help him up and he just said, 'It's over. It's over,' " power forward Udonis Haslem said.

It is an injury that could require up to six months of post-surgical recovery, which does not bode well for a 37-year-old kidney-transplant recipient.

"I've been through a whole lot worse than this," Mourning said of beating kidney disease and returning from his transplant. "It's disappointing to even think my career would end this way."

On a night when Heat players openly bickered with one another as its record fell to 7-18, the teammate best suited to demand more respect for the game spent the finish in the locker room.

The Heat had a chance to win at the regulation buzzer, but a corner jumper by forward Ricky Davis off a Dwyane Wade pass bounded off the rim.

From there, the Heat imploded, with Wade, who finished with 36 points, declining to talk afterward.

With Mourning, there was little to say.

Mourning's knee buckled as he attempted to defend a driving dunk by Hawks guard Mario West with 4:22 to play in the opening period.

Such an injury normally requires surgery followed by a recuperative period of up to six months.

"There are so many other things that life has to offer to me," Mourning said, indicating he already knows what team physician Harlan Selesnick will tell him today.

A similar injury to Damon Stoudamire in December 2005 put the Grizzlies guard out for the season. Power forward Antonio McDyess, then with Denver, missed five months after partially tearing a patella in 2001.

As West rose to dunk, Mourning fell in the lane, clutching his knee. After Hawks forward Josh Smith scored on a follow-up of West's miss, Heat trainer Ron Culp and coach Pat Riley rushed to Mourning's side beneath the Hawks rim.

After initially being placed on a stretcher, Mourning refused to be wheeled off the court, instead limping off while supported by teammates Wade and Earl Barron.

"That's not the way I envisioned myself walking off the court for the last time in my career," Mourning said of the stretcher. "If I had to crawl off that court, I would have."

Mourning had said in the offseason this would be his final season.

Hall of Fame guard Magic Johnson, who was sitting courtside, visited with Mourning, saying that the center recognized his 15-year career could be over.

"I said, 'Hold your head up high. You over-delivered to the fans, to the city of Miami. You should be proud of yourself. You gave the game 150 percent of yourself and of your body,' " Johnson said. Johnson said he tried to ease Mourning's pain.

"I told him, 'You know what? Life is not bad after basketball. You'll find out wearing a suit every day is not too bad,' " Johnson said, "and I saw the big smile come across his face."

It was Johnson who suggested in the offseason that Mourning consider immediate retirement.

"He said to me, 'I know, you told me not to come back,' " Johnson said. "I said, 'This isn't the time for that.' "

About the Nets: New Jersey has lost six of its past seven, including Tuesday's 106-101 home loss to Sacramento. The Nets reshuffled their power rotation, with Josh Boone now starting at center and rookie Sean Williams at power forward. Williams tied a franchise record with eight blocks Tuesday.

About the Heat: The Heat won the first game of the three-game season series 91-87 in New Jersey, behind the 23 points, nine assists and six rebounds of guard Dwyane Wade, who was limited to 4-of-17 shooting in the game played in the injury absence of the Nets' Vince Carter. The Heat enters 2-5 on the second nights of back-to-back sets. C Alonzo Mourning (knee) is out. G Jason Williams (knee) is questionable. F Alexander Johnson (wrist) is questionable. G Smush Parker is not with the team.